It is the policy of the College to regard students as "regular college students." The college is an adult learning community and we treat all of our students accordingly. Students are expected to be independent and responsible for their actions.

This means that when your students have problems with an instructor, the students need to contact the teacher directly. Instructors have office hours to meet with students privately and answer questions and address concerns.  WVC faculty are under no obligation to communicate directly with parents.  Their interactions with students are protected under FERPA. 

All student educational records are maintained according to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) concerning information that becomes part of the permanent record and governing the conditions of its disclosure. Only name, dates of enrollment, and degrees earned can be released without student authorization.

This creates a much different dynamic than what has been experienced by most parents in the secondary schools. We understand this can be challenging.  Teaching children to navigate the college environment requires a transition from being the advocate for the child to educating students to advocate for themselves.  We provide assistance and guidance as often as possible to students about how to manage this new challenge. This is where you can offer your support in these efforts as well.  This can be as simple as teaching your student how to locate contact information, or how to properly compose an email, or leave a voice message for an instructor, or role playing a conversation they need to initiate with a faculty member-then allowing your student to complete the task on their own.  These things, and more, help our students to achieve tremendous growth and independence.  Encourage your students to establish relationships with their professors and communicate with them directly and frequently.  This leads to increased success in the post secondary realm.  These are also transferrable skills that will serve them well beyond the WVC campus.

We strongly encourage our students to have open and frequent communication with parents and high school counselors about their academics at Wenatchee Valley College. Canvas is an online platform that most of our professors use to keep their students up-to-date on grades, assignments, and much more. Below are videos to help you better understand how to manage Canvas to help support your students. It is important to keep in mind that students create their own passwords, in which Running Start staff nor any other WVC employee do not have access to this information. It is important for parents and students to communicate and work together for support and to be informed of their students academics.

How to Access Canvas Grades

https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Video-Guide/Grades-Students/ta-p/384190

Accessing Canvas (Course) Calendar

https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Video-Guide/Calendar-Overview-Students/ta-p/383519

The college is released to give academic information to high school counselors or administrators if necessary. If you have questions about this please contact Maria Christina Monroe 509-682-6848.